Canadian Solar and Green City Energy complete one MW Saxony solar project in record time

Canadian Solar and Green City Energy complete one MW Saxony solar project in record time

20. July 2010 By: Becky Stuart

Canadian Solar Inc. and Green City Energy have jointly installed a one-megawatt (MW) solar system in the city of Haertensdorf, Germany in what they say is the record time of two months. The system, located in Saxony, was completed before June 30.

Green City Energy worked with local firms. Image: Green City Energy.

The solar system is part of the Burgersolarpark installation. With a global radiation value of 1,000 kWh/m2, it is located in one Germany's sunniest regions. The two companies have fitted solar modules on a total of 16 rooftops with a surface of 17,000 square meters. The modules by Canadian Solar will produce 1,000,000 Kwh of green solar energy per year - enough to power approximately 300 households.

Construction work began early this year with the required reconstruction of the roof. Prior to installing the modules, material that was contaminated with asbestos had to be removed, which took four months to complete. Installing the solar modules was then accomplished in only one month, says Canadian Solar.

For the reconstruction of the roof and the installation of the solar modules, Green City Energy contracted closely with local firms. "All the partners involved in the project showed a great deal of partnership. This reduced friction to a minimum, so we managed to install the system in no time at all," said Andreas Horn, division manager pf photovoltaics at Green City Energy. "And also with regard to technology, with Canadian Solar and its high performance modules we had a very strong and reliable partner."

The system started feeding electricity into the local grid before June 30, which exempts it from the cutbacks of the photovoltaics (PV) feed-in tariffs, say the companies.